Short Notes

1. Define the age of Discovery and Exploration.

Ans: About 600 years ago, Europeans began to find out more about the world. At that
time, there were many new discoveries about science, medicine, art and culture. And
European explorers brought may new ideas to Europe so the ideas would spread more.
Therefore, this period was know as The Age of Discovery and Exploration.
2. How many social classes are there in Viking society under the Viking
king? Write about the one social class.
Ans: Under the king, Viking society had three social classes; the jarls, the karls and the
thralls. One social class that I want to talk about is the karls. Karls belonged to the
middle class. This group included farmers, merchants and craftspeople. This was the
group that traded with other countries and went to war and on raids.
3. Who were the Viking and why did they explore the world?
Ans: The Vikings were from the countries of Norway, Denmark and Sweden (known as
Scandinavia). The Vikings were excellent boat builders and navigators, which means
people who explore by sea. They explore the world because by the end of the 8th
century, Scandinavia was becoming very overcrowded so they had to look for new
places to live.
4. What economic activities did the Vikings do for their survival?
Ans: Farming
- Farmers grew oats, barley and wheat to make flour and porridge. They also
grew vegetables such as carrots, onions, cabbages. They kept the farm animals
including sheep, goats, cattle and chicken.
Fishing and hunting
- They live near the coast or rivers. They caught sea fish and sea birds to eat and
take eggs. They hunt the wild animals like seals, deer, foxes, wolves and bear.
They ate meat and used the fur to make warm clothes and to trade.
Trading
- The merchants travelled thousands of miles buying and selling a wide range of
goods. They sold their products and bought the goods from the other regions.
Amber was an important trade item for the Vikings.

5. What achievements are the Vikings known for?

Ans: The Vikings were highly killed craftspeople. They used leather to make shoes,
belts and clothing. The carpenters made beautifully carved furniture and toy. The
women wove linen or wool into cloth on a loam. Metal workers made armour, axes,
tools and swords. They also loved to wear jewellery.

6. Why do you think the age of discovery and exploration was called a
Golden Age in the Middle East?
 Ans: The Middle East was far ahead of many European countries in science,
medicine, engineering, mathematics and astronomy. There were vast libraries and
colleges in the Middle East that attracted the scholars from around the world. So,
their inventions and ideas spread to other areas. Therefore, the age of discovery
and exploration was called the Golden Age in the Middle East.

7. Who is your favourite European explorer? Why he is famous for?

Ans: My favorite European explorer is Christopher Columbus. He is famous for his
voyage across the Atlantic Ocean in 1492, which led to the discovery of America. His
expedition marked a major turning point in world history as it opened up new
opportunities for trade and exploration between Europe and the Americas.

8. Why did the Portugal find out the new routes for trading?
Ans: European traders did not want to pay the high taxes ,so they looked for alternative
routes to travel directly to Indiaand Far East to buy silk, spices, carpets and precious
jewels to sell in Europe.

9. Why do you think European explorers used caravels?

Ans: It was lighter and shorter than many of the other ships that sailed in the
oceans. Caravels could sail in most directions and could cope with very rough seas
and high winds.

10.What does the Thing mean in Viking Era?

Ans: Each local chief has a council of karls to help him. The council met regularly at an
open-air meeting called a “Thing”. They discussed problems voted on new laws settled
arguments and decided on the punishment for a person who was found guilty of
breaking the law.

11.What was the most important invention of Renaissance? Why did they
invent it?
Ans: The most important invention of Renaissance was printing press. Because they
want to print pages to produce books quickly and cheaply.
Fill in the blank.
1. The Vikings came from an area of northern Europe called ---------.
(Scandinavia)
2. The Viking‘s homeland is surrounded by water body made them to become
as excellent boat builders and --------------. (navigators)
3. Under the king, Viking society had ------ social classes. (three/ 3)
4. ---------- were the richest and most powerful local chiefs in Viking society.
(Jarls)
5. Viking explorers started new settlements in Iceland, ------ and Russia.
(Greenland)
6. Viking traders used ----- boats in sailing. (knarr )
7. Most Vikings lived in a ------------ surrounded by farms. (small village)
8. The ------------ was an important place in Viking town. (harbour )
9. The Vikings covered the roofs of their house with ------ to keep warm. (turf)
10.In most part of Scandinavia, the houses were made of -------. (wood)

11.One of the most important inventions of the Renaissance period was --------.
(printing press)
12.--------- was a time when there was an explosion of new ideas, knowledge
and learning. (Renaissance)
13.European explorers used a type of ship called ------. (caravel)
14. Many of the sports Vikings played were good training for ------- like spear-
throwing. (war)
15.Viking sailors sometimes took ------- with them to help them navigate.
(ravens)
16. The success of ------- inspired other European explorers to find the new
things. (Columbus)
17.The ship’s crew was divided into groups, each of which was called a -------.
(watch)
18.The Ottomans puts ------- on all goods coming into and out of their empire
so the European started to the find the new routes. (taxes)
19. The astronomer al-Fazari invented an instrument called --------. (astrolabe)
20. Ibn Sina wrote a -------- text book known as “Canon” used to train doctors.
(medical)
 21.The Vikings used the metal tools to cut letters and pictures into ------, wood
and bone. (stones)
22.The Viking’s stories about exciting adventures and heroes are known as ----.
(saga)
23. ------- helped Columbus for the supplies and ships. (Queen Isabella)
24.Columbus set off the exploration across the ------------- on 3 August 1492
CE. (Atlantic Ocean)
25.The Vikings used ------ to make shoes, belts and clothing. (leather)

True or False
1. The Vikings were fierce warriors and excellent fishermen. (False)
2. The Vikings were from the countries of Norway, Denmark and Sweden.
( True)
3. Gangs of Vikings stole anything of value they could find like gold, jewels,
and cattle. (True)
4. Thralls were farmers, merchant and craftsmen. (False)
5. The Viking children had to go to school. (False)
6. The Viking relied on farming, fishing and hunting for their income. (False)
7. The Vikings were at their most powerful from 700 to 1100 CE. (True)
8. Vikings arrived to North America in about 1000 CE. (True)
9. The council of karls met regularly at an open-air meeting called a Thing.
(True)
10. Amber was an important trade item for the Viking. (True)

11.Nearly all of the great European explorers used a type of ship known as a
caravel. (True)
12.The Age of Discovery and Exploration was a time when Europeans began
exploring the world by land. (True)
 13.In 1488 CE, Portuguese explorer Bartolomeu Dias was the first European to
sail around the southern tip of Africa and into the Indian Ocean. (True)
14. Germany was a center of European learning where scholars discussed new
ideas and did experiments. (False)
15.From many hundreds of years before the 1400s and 1500s, the center of
trading world was the Middle East. (True)
16.Viking women travelled on the boats and went to war to fight in war. (False)
17.Salt is very important for Vikings because they used it to preserve fish and
meat. (True)
18.Boats were so important to the Vikings that some kings were buried in boats
with all their treasures. (True)
19.A caravel ship was between 100 and 150 meters long and weighed between
250 and 350 tones. (False)
20.The crow’s nest was where a sailor went to look for land. (True)

21.The invention of printing press meant that books could be produced slowly.
(False)
22.The invention of internet and printing press can spread the ideas and
information very quickly. (True)
23.Ferdinand Magellan from Italy spent three years, form 1519 to 1522, sailing
around the world. (False)
24.Amerigo Vespucci from Italy confirmed that the land Columbus had
discovered was part of a new continent. (True)
25.The Viking wrote about kings, battles and other important events on paper
and in books. ( False)

Choice
1. The Vikings originally came from -------------.
(a) Norway, Sweden and Spain
(b) Norway, Denmark and Sweden
(c) Denmark, Sweden and Britain
2. By the end of -------- the Vikings were looking for new places to live.
(a) the 6th century CE
(b) the 7th century CE
(c) the 8th century CE
3. Groups of Vikings had regular open-air meeting called ------ to discuss local
problems, vote on new laws and settle arguments.
(a) thing
(b) thrall
(c) king
4. The Viking ate ------ per day.
(a) one
(b) two
(c) three
5. Vikings raided Britain for the first time in -----------.
(a) 793 CE
(b) 893 CE
(c) 993 CE
6. ------ belonged to the middle class in Viking society.
(a) Jarls
(b) Karls
(c) Thralls
7. About 1000 years ago, one of the largest cities in the world was -------.
(a) New York
(b) Baghdad
(c) Paris
8. The leading nations in the Age of Discovery and Exploration did not include
(a) Portugal
(b) Hungary
(c)Spain
9. The name of Spanish queen who sponsored Columbus’s first voyage in 1892
was --------------.
(a) Queen Isabella
(b) Queen Victoria
(c) Queen Elizabeth
10. The Age of Discovery and Exploration began in the --------.
(a) 1600s
(b) 1500s
 (c) 1400s
11.In each Viking town or village had its owned called -------------.
(a) a chief
(b) tough king
(c) kingdom
12.---------------- were slaves Viking society.
(a) Jarls
(b) Karls
(c) Thralls
13.The Vikings were also known as --------------.
(a) Norseman
(b) Eastmen
(c) Westmen
14.The long, wide boat used by Viking traders was called a ------------.
(a) knarr
(b) canoe
(c) coracle
15.In 986 CE, a Viking explorer named -------- landed in Canada and was the
first European to reach North America.
(a) Erik the Red
(b) Bjarni Herjolfsson
(c) Leif Erikson
16.As ------- began to take more and more land, many scholars in the Middle
East decided to move away.
(a) the Ottomans
(b) the Romans
(c) the Vikings
17.A scholar is a ---------------.
(a) type of food
(b) clever student
(c) trader
18.The first European to sail around the southern tip of Africa and into the
Indian Ocean was

(b) Bartolomeu Dias

(c) Christopher Columbus
19.The disease caused by a lack of vitamin C that was common among sailors
is -----.
(a) chicken pox
(b) scurvy
(c) measles
20.The time when there were a number of developments in shipbuilding and
navigation was called -------.
(a) new theory
(b) new history
(c) new technology
21.The richest and most powerful Vikings chiefs were called --------.
(a) jarls
(b) karls
(c) thralls
22.The metal that Vikings merchants used when trading for goods was -----.
(a) gold
(b) iron
(c) silver
23.The Vikings were great storytellers. The stories they told were called
(a) togas
(b) sagas
(c) chronicles
24.The Ottoman tribe originally came from
(a) north-east Turkey
(b) Southern Spain
(c) West Africa
25.Vasco da Gama become the first European to sail around Africa and land in
India in
(a) 1478 CE
(b) 1488 CE
(c) 1498 CE
26.The word’s “Renaissance” translates as ------------.
(a)release
(b) reactive
(c) rebirth
27. ------------ was a center of European learning where scholars discussed new
ideas and did experiments.
(a) Italy
(b) Germany
(c) France